Rentals up, but bike scheme a work in progress

Adam Cooper

There can often be more bikes than empty spaces at a Melbourne Bike Share station, but figures show the scheme is slowly growing in popularity.

There are about 600 blue bikes dotted throughout Melbourne's CBD, Southbank and Carlton, but critics say the scheme has failed to catch on because of expensive rental costs, a lack of promotion and the complications borne by Victoria's compulsory helmet laws.

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“And our stations were originally located at out-of-the-way locations such as round the back of Federation Square, for example, because the operators had trouble getting permission to locate them in the optimum spots.

“It's been slow to start up, but every month the operators report they get more riders, so it may eventually become popular.”

Melbourne's bike scheme does not hire out helmets despite it being illegal to ride a bike without one, which means users must either bring their own helmets or buy them cheaply from convenience stores.

Brisbane, which has also struggled to find users for its bike scheme, has begun giving out free helmets to encourage more rentals.

A Brisbane council spokeswoman said the number of daily rides had increased by 20 per cent since helmets were first given out in August. The council is yet to decide whether to include helmets as part of the scheme permanently.

Melbourne has no plans at this stage to give out helmets, but critics say a revamp is required for its scheme to be successful.

Bike shop owner John Gould, who has approached the state government about re-fitting the scheme, said Bike Share needed helmets, although he rejected the theory that shared helmets caused hygiene problems.

“If you're in hospital with a brain injury and you say 'I didn't want to wear a helmet because I didn't want to catch any bugs in my hair' … the helmets are the biggest thing. To me it's crazy that the government would provide something that breaks the law,” he said.

Mr Gould said the scheme's pricing structure and a lack of locks steered users towards short trips, whereas the aim should be to get people hiring bikes all day.

“Melbourne's one of the largest flat cities in the world and to me, cycle tourism is a massive potential,” he said.

“I'd go the opposite way to what they're doing. Make it for a day, use the bike to go shopping. Then you're really making an impact on your traffic.”